Author: Stephanie

My Top 16 Songs of 2016 

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Let’s be honest here. The only thing 2016 did right was music. 

For me, this was the year of concerts. Johnnyswim, The Saint Johns, Judah and the Lion, Matt Wertz, Switchfoot, Relient K, Us the Duo, Pentatonix, Jon Bellion. All these artists’ were amazing live in their own right!! I can’t even pick a favorite. Actually, I only go to shows if they are already my favorite haha. And! I have 2 more concerts lined up in the next few months: Josh Garrels and Us the Duo <3 Yay LIVE MUSIC!

TOP SONGS of 2016. You’ll notice not many (any? maybe 2) are Top 40. I do listen to the radio, but in the last 2 years I’ve tried to stick with finding new artists (or new songs from artists I already love) in places besides the radio – mostly Spotify and Twitter if you’re curious. (read: I’m not saying there isn’t good music on the radio, there is!) I have singer-songwriter, pop, and country music taste tendencies, and of course anything with thoughtful, smart, challenging, inspiring lyrics. So if you’re into that, you’ll be into these 😉 Here we go!

If you want to skip the commentary and just listen >> Top 16 Songs of 2016 playlist on Spotify <<

ALBUMS + the TOP 2 SONGS ON EACH
Basically I loved these albums in their entirety SO MUCH that I couldn’t pick just one song from them. Really, these albums are each pure and perfect as a whole collection of songs. I did pick my favorite songs from them, but I rarely listen to them on their own. When I listen to these albums, it’s in order, in one sitting. In a generation of “singles” it’s refreshing to be able to listen to full albums that are well thought out as a whole. These 5 albums are definitely my most-listened-to of 2016.

Please love and admire my musical expertness. 😉 😉

  • James Bay – Chaos and the Calm
    (Best Fake Smile, Need the Sun to Break) – Though it technically was released in 2015, I didn’t discover it until 2016, so I’m counting it for this year!! His words! His honest words and stripped back music are what really pulled me in.
  • Johnnyswim – Georgica Pond
    (Let it Matter, First Try) – Throwin’ up them praise hands. That’s what happened the first time I listened to practically every one of these songs. Abner & Amanda & their soulful, harmonious musical abilities are sooo amazing.
  • Jon Bellion – The Human Condition
    (Maybe IDK, Guillotine) – Thankful this album came into my life. Jon’s lyrics are so real, and his beats and sounds are refreshing & unexpected. Many of his thoughts (& lots of tough love) really challenged me and I appreciated that.
  • Maren Morris – Hero
    (Sugar, Rich) – THIS GIRL. Was just nominated for FOUR Grammy’s!?!! Incredible, especially when country music is so male-dominated. Maren ripped right through all the washed-out party-country and created an album that absolutely changed the game. 
  • Matt Wertz – Gun Shy
    (    Smoke, Committed) – THIS GUY. Matt took a huge leap of faith and completely 360-ed his genre, going from calm singer-songwriter to pop GOD. He wrote, sang and produced a seriously ELECTRIC album. As a fan for over 10 years, I am so proud of MW.  

Things – November

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I used to blog about anything and everything, and I miss that. So let’s jam.

ONE WEEK until the Gilmore Girl revival airs!!! I don’t think this needs more commenting. Just all the happy emojis 😍. BUT I solemnly swear that I will not blog about this topic again until at least one month after that air date to ensure there are no spoilers on the internet 😉

Pizza Fridays are kind of a thing:
If ordering pizza for dinner semi-frequently is lazy and unhealthy, then let us be lazy and unhealthy. Mostly-every-other-Friday-pizza is our current favorite tradition and neither of us feel bad about it. Pizza is life. Someone get me a t-shirt.

I’ve been to SOME concerts lately:
Switchfoot and Relient K at the House of Blues was a blast from my 14-17 year old past and they both put on a huge, fun, dance-y party. Seeing Matt Wertz perform his new album Gun Shy was so fun and proved that there’s definitely something right about my eleven year obsession with his music 😉 Pentatonix and Us the Duo are all SO talented and their concert was a bright, encouraging, positive light during the mostly bummer of a week last week (more on that later).

Speaking of music. If you need new music to listen to: 
All those mentioned above plus: Savoir Adore, Jon Bellion, Castro, & ARIZONA, you’re welcome. P.S. Currently hand-crafting my Best of 2016 song list and I CAN’T WAIT to share it with you in December.

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If you need new *Christmas* music to listen to: Got you covered with that, too. Click THIS. (It’s the new Pentatonix Xmas album, obviously.)

Speaking of holidays, they are soon and I can’t even: 
I was never a “holidays are so stressful” person until I became somewhat of a real adult human and realized that you should probably treat holidays as a real adult human and not like a “there’s free food? ok I’ll be there” college kid. Things that sort of stress me out, but I’ll get over it: Contributing legitimate, yummy food options to family parties, actually putting thought into presents and not just giving people your leftover artwork that they probably will throw away anyways, seeing everyone you ‘need’ to see in a timely manner, traveling various distances to see those people, and when you’re married, making sure both families have the same amount of time with you. Ugh. Holidays. Was that too real? But I’m very excited to decorate our apartment and go on a date Christmas-light-sight-seeing around town. 😉

I saw the super moon: 
Didn’t everyone see the super moon? It was kind of hard to miss. I wasn’t planning it, but I happened to be on a large hill, with my camera, when it rose over the Boston skyline, so I hung out and snapped a couple photos. There were some INTENSE lenses up there. It was crowded and I like this photo the best.

supermoon over boston stephanie rita

World Market ruined me: 
My life was ruined to minute I stepped into World Market for the first time. I can’t go back, but I have to go back (let it be known I’ve been back many times). I don’t need more stuff, but I need all their stuff. It’s the worst, but the best. So much conflict is happening within me.

I am not a vegetarian anymore:
My streak of vegetarianism lasted almost 2 full months, but I have decided to give up the fight. It was fun and pretty normal and totally doable while it lasted, but for some reason (I like meat) it wasn’t meant to last.

On a more serious note:
Let’s be honest, last week was hard. I want to say thank you to those who did their part & voted in the 2016 presidential election. Thank you to those of you who voted for respect, experience and acceptance. A lot of us are heartbroken with the results, I know I am. I am doing my best to hold onto this truth: “God has not given us a spirit of fear.. but of love…” Be the love, you guys. This country needs it right now. LOVE YOU BYE.

Things – September

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I want to learn sign language:
There were three things I saw last week (3 days in a row, at really random times, and I am believing it was a God thing) that sparked this desire last week. MovingWorks has a video about a barista who felt God calling her to learn sing language to communicate with the deaf people who came into her coffee shop. Andy Mineo’s older sister is deaf, but he never bothered to learn sign language. He just released a really touching and honest song about it, called Hear My Heart. And Tyler Oakley has a fun & informative video with Nyle, a winner of ANTM who happens to be deaf, and in it they talk a lot about inclusivity of the deaf community. So. I’ve done some video research and already learned a couple signs since last week.

I don’t want to be inside so often:
I work for myself and can do what I want, and I still end up sitting inside at a computer all day. I hate myself a little bit for that. So here’s the plan: go outside for a short walk twice a day and always try to catch the sunset.

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I think I’ll keep this vegetarian (pescetarian) thing up:
It’s been about 2 months and so far hasn’t been too hard to live a pescetarian lifestyle (though I do miss a good burger). But the production of (red) meat is the number one problem when it comes to the destruction of our environment. And I don’t want to be a part of that. So I am sticking to fish and the verrryyy occasional chicken. And I feel really good about it.

I am so glad we’re back in hot coffee season:
I do like iced coffee on hot summer days, but mannnnn, I love the time of year when I get to break out all my favorite mugs again. Cozy mornings with hot coffee, those are the best.

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And just another thought:
Genesis 1:10 “God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.”  I just think “gathered waters” is such a beautiful image. It would make a good band name. 😉

Summer Weekend in DC

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Nate and I spent a weekend in DC last month, during the incredible heat of summer. If there’s one thing I can say right off the bat, it’s that I love DC way more in the fall, which is when we visited last year. It’s just a littttttttle more enjoyable when you aren’t sweating the whole time. But summertime was the one time we had the chance to go this year, so we went! Nate and I both love DC and have been together twice before, so we didn’t have much more on our list of must-sees. The Jefferson Memorial and the Botanic gardens were the main spots we wanted to hit. Out of all the memorials (and there are a lot of memorials in DC!) Jefferson was definitely my favorite. It reminded me of ancient architecture you’d see in Rome, plus it sits right on the water and has a great view of the Washington Monument. We sat on the steps (in the shade) and took it all in for a while.

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The Botanic gardens were so gorgeous! I have only ever been in one, tiny, little botanic garden before, so this HUGE one was a showstopper for me. It smelled amazing, there were different levels within the larger area that we explored, and they had a whole section dedicated to Hawaii. I love Hawaii! Since it was so hot outside, being in the greenhouse was pretty brutal in the warmer climates, but pro tip, there’s a mister in the children’s section, so use that to cool off 🙂 After we finished at the Botanic gardens, I was pretty tired (and sunburnt), so we spent the rest of the day reading and watching TV in our hotel room. Sounds lame, but one thing I learned during this mini-vaca is that it’s OK to not always be going, seeing, visiting, and that it’s OK to just take a break and rest. Isn’t that what vaca is really all about anyways?

After a good night’s rest, we woke up and went to the zoo! I’m sure all of you have been to a zoo at some point, so can we agree that they all kind of look and feel the same? I don’t know, I feel like a zoo is a zoo. We saw the cute pandas, huge elephants, and sweet, tiny, little, weird mammals that I will never again see in my life. I forget all their names, ha! But the zoo was fun and now I don’t need to go to a zoo for another 5 years.

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We ate a lot of really good food this time around, the share-with-all-the-people type of food and so I’m gonna share! We stayed in a hotel near the Metro Center stop on the red line, so most of the places we ate at were within walking distance from there!

Astro Doughnuts – This was recommended to me by an Instagram friend! We enjoyed breakfast there two mornings in a row…oops! 😉 The blackberry crumble doughnut is still something I dream about to this day, and I would also suggest getting yourself a peach pie doughnut as well. For those of you with slightly adventurous taste buds, Nate really liked the maple bacon option!
&pizza – Ok, this place is sweeeeet. Think Subway, where you get to choose all your toppings, but this is really good, artisan pizza place! I chose spinach, chick peas, pesto and broccoli for my toppings and it was seriously such a yummy combo. They cook the pizza by sending it through a special conveyor belt oven, and the pizza is ready in less than 3 minutes, so basically this is a good place to go if you need some amazing food pronto.
Cuba Libre – Nate and I are not the bar type, but we had walked by this rum bar earlier in the day and thought it would be cool to check out. It was such a lively atmosphere; people were salsa dancing in between tables and it was just great. My favorite cocktail had something to do with coconut, obviously. (They also have food here, but we just tried the drinks).
Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse – Still on the red line, but get off at Union Station. It’s in the cutest (colorful!) neighborhood and has some great coffee. It’s spacious and has such a great vibe… like, you know THAT coffee shop vibe? This place has that. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more descriptive, you just have to visit.
Ted’s Bulletin – We met up with our DC friends again, and we went back to the same diner we ate at last year, officially making this a TRADITION! There is such a retro vibe in this diner, and I love it. The food is great and they didn’t mind that we stayed almost 3 hours so we could talk and catch up, as friends do. P.S. This is near the Eastern Market metro stop.

YAY DC WE LOVE YOU.

Hiking West Rattlesnake Mountain | Holderness, NH

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Nate and I hiked up West Rattlesnake Mountain with my parents this past weekend. The thing is, it shouldn’t reaaaaallly be called a mountain, considering it only took about 35 minutes to hike to the top, and it wasn’t even that hard! The path is clear and very nicely groomed; some parts even have actual stairs built in. We saw lots of diversely aged and sized humans (and dogs!) along the way, so it’s safe to say that this hike is a good activity for everyone in the family.

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If you don’t spend much time at the top (which you should) you can do this hike in under an hour and fifteen minutes. But I would definitely suggest taking some time to enjoy the view and maybe even bring a picnic with you! The body of water you’ll see from the summit is Squam Lake, a mid-sized lake for the region. We went on a pretty cloudy day, but it really didn’t hinder the great view.

 

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We’re hiking more in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! 🙂